MIAMI -- A massive search is on for a suspected serial rapist who escaped from a Miami-Dade County jail Tuesday night.

Authorities said Reynaldo Rapalo and another inmate somehow made their way onto the roof of Turner-Guilford Knight Correctional Center about 9:30 p.m.

Rapalo, 34, used bed sheets to lower himself down the facility. The other inmate was apprehended after he broke his leg while jumping.

Authorities said Rapalo, believed to be the Shenandoah rapist, probably had a 30-minute head start before correctional officers realized he had escaped.

"Anytime there's a time delay, it lets the person get farther away from the internal perimeter," Miami-Dade Police Department spokesman Joey Giordano said. "Even if the person was on foot, you're talking 15, even 20 minutes, (that) there might be more of a perimeter to handle."

Neighborhood Reacts

Rapalo was scheduled to appear in court Jan. 5 for DNA evidence that allegedly ties him to seven rapes and four attempted assaults in the Shenandoah neighborhood of Miami dating back to 2002. The victims range in age from 11 to 79.

He gained notoriety as the subject of a documentary feature that chronicles the alleged serial rapist's crime spree and his subsequent arrest.

It was because of Rapalo's alleged assaults that one Shenandoah family purchased a watchdog and hung a "Beware of Dog" sign on their fence to keep strangers away. With Rapalo on the loose, the Appersons aren't taking any chances.

"The kids are not going to be out unless one of us is out here with them anyway," Michael Apperson said. "…The whole neighborhood knew about that situation."

Rapalo's Background

Rapalo came to the United States from Trinidad, Honduras, in 1999.

In July 2002, Rapalo was arrested and charged with aggravated assault of his girlfriend. The charge was eventually dropped.

He was arrested again in October 2002, charged that time with lewd and lascivious behavior on a child. Like before, the charge was dropped.

Rapalo was finally apprehended in September 2003 after Miami police noticed a car he was driving that matched the description of the rapist's vehicle.

Questions about Rapalo's status in the country uncovered that he had illegally applied for and received a Florida identification card and driver's license using a phony document that showed he had been discharged from the military. Rapalo had entered the country originally using a temporary visa.

Rapalo was married when he came to the U.S. His wife, Rosa Emelia Caseres, said Rapalo told her he always wanted to bring her there as well.

Rapalo and Caseres have two children together; Caseres also has a daughter from a previous marriage.

Rapalo's parents and four siblings live in Trinidad.

They believe Rapalo is innocent and blamed any trouble he had in Miami on a girlfriend, who also happened to be his wife's cousin. His family said that the cousin had been maintaining an intimate relationship with Rapalo and had asked him to divorce Caseres.

Caseres' cousin is the same woman who filed a domestic violence complaint against Rapalo in 2002.

Rapalo's mother called him an angel and said she asked God to set her son free.

Despite Escape, Governor Confident In Police

Even the governor chimed in on Tuesday night's jailbreak.

"I'm confident that the police will catch this guy and put him in a more secure location," said Gov. Jeb Bush, who was in Miami Wednesday distributing Christmas baskets with members of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

Bush wouldn't comment on the security of the facility from which Rapalo escaped, and the Miami-Dade Police Department, which runs the facility, is launching an investigation into how the inmates made it to the roof. Rapalo was being held in a maximum-security area, said Miami-Dade Director of Corrections Charles McRay.

Rapalo is considered armed and dangerous, and Miami-Dade Police Department Director Robert Parker said Rapalo represents "the worst kind of threat possible to the streets of Miami."

"He had help, and if he planned this so carefully, we have to assume that he has planned the next step," Miami Police Department Lt. Bill Schwartz said. "So we have to try and get one step in front of him."

State, county and city law enforcement agencies are all working together to ensure Rapalo is apprehended as quickly and as safely as possible.

"He's out today, and we feel very bad about that," Schwartz said.